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Wednesday, December 12, 2012

An Article About Yesterday's Episode of Holmes Makes It Right 12/11/12

Yesterday's brand new episode of Holmes Makes It Right showed Mike and his crew picking up the pieces for one family after a con of a contractor scammed a bunch of homeowners and fled. Mike always categorizes contractors into three categories: "the good, the bad, and the ugly," and I think Mike would definitely put this guy into the "ugly" column. In this news article, reposted from the St. Catharines Standard, the couple featured on the episode discusses their experience with Mike and how it differed from their previous experience with the other contractor who ripped them off.

Holmes Makes It Right airs on HGTV Canada at 9PM EST. Outside of Canada, Mike's new show will premiere in early 2013 on HGTV.

News Local

Community

Kitchen reno complainant calls Mike Holmes

By Karena Walter, The Standard

Tuesday, December 11, 2012 12:54:50 EST AM

Mike Holmes stepped in to repair this kitchen

ST. CATHARINES - Their kitchen renos were like night and day.
“We went from high to super low, back up to high,” said Greg Kay, whose first kitchen renovation with wife Laura was a flop.
The owners of the St. Catharines renovation company they hired last summer — All Canadian Kitchen — were arrested for alleged widespread fraud of clients, and their kitchen never was completed.
So, the Burlington couple called celebrity home renovator Mike Holmes.
The couple are scheduled to appear on HGTV’s Holmes Makes It Right, on Tuesday at 9 p.m.
The summary for the episode, Money For Nothing, on the Make it Right site states Holmes and his team “make things right by giving one of the victims the kitchen that was stolen from them.”
None of the allegations against All Canadian Kitchen operators have been proven in court.
Like dozens of others who have filed police reports about All Canadian Kitchen, the Burlington couple said they were left with bare base cabinets and holes in their walls after they hired the company.
They say their kitchen was ripped out by the company in June and they were left without a working kitchen until the Holmes team came in for two to three weeks in September.
While Kay isn’t allowed to say much about the episode, he said the couple’s first meeting with Holmes was on camera and unrehearsed.
“He came through the door, just like you see on TV,” he said.
The experience was completely different from their first reno. Legitimate contractors and men with vans that had the actual names of their companies on the side showed up, he said.
The family wasn’t allowed to see the final product until the “reveal.”
“It was a super-positive experience,” said Kay. “They did more than they said they would in the exact time they said they would.”
For a family that got by barbecuing and eating at relatives’ homes for months, having a working kitchen is like a dream come true.
“It’s awesome, to be honest,” said Kay. “Every time you come down the stairs and turn the corner, it’s like ‘whoa.’ I can’t believe it’s mine.
“It’s what we wanted in the beginning, but obviously it was a total disaster after that.”
Niagara Regional Police said in September the number of customer complaints they received about All Canadian Kitchen had grown to 60, with another 15 employees coming forward claiming they were defrauded.
Sandra Byrne, 48, and Shane Byrne, 37, were each charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000 and two counts of conspiracy to commit fraud in August. The charges relate to defrauding the public and employees.
They were released on bail with the condition they cease operating All Canadian Kitchen or All Canadian Outdoor Living.
They will next appear in court Dec. 18.
karena.walter@sunmedia.ca